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The interaction between the tumor cells in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) and the microenvironment includes aberrant activity of receptor tyrosine kinases. In this study we evaluated the expression, functionality and prognostic significance of Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) in cHL. IGF-1R was overexpressed in 55% (44/80) of cHL patients. Phosphorylated IGF-1R was detectable in a minority of the IGF-1R positive tumor cells. The overall survival (OS, 98%) and 5-year progression-free survival (PFS, 93%) was significantly higher in IGF-1R positive cHL patients compared to IGF-1R negative patients (OS 83%, p =?.029 and PFS 77%, p =?.047, respectively). Three cHL cell lines showed expression of IGF-1R, with strong staining especially in the mitotic cells and expression of IGF-1. IGF-1 treatment had a prominent effect on the cell growth of L428 and L1236 cells and resulted in an increased phosphorylation of IGF1R, Akt and ERK. Inhibition of IGF-1R with cyclolignan picropodophyllin (PPP) decreased cell growth and induced a G2/M cell cycle arrest in all three cell lines. Moreover, a decrease in pCcd2 and an increase in CyclinB1 levels were observed which is consistent with the G2/M cell cycle arrest. In conclusion, IGF-1R expression in HRS cells predicts a favorable outcome, despite the oncogenic effect of IGF-1R in cHL cell lines.

The majority of cancer-related deaths occur subsequent to the development of metastatic disease. This highly lethal disease stage is associated with the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). These rare cells have been demonstrated to be of clinical significance in metastatic breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. The current gold standard in clinical CTC detection and enumeration is the FDA-cleared CellSearch system (CSS). This manuscript outlines the standard protocol utilized by this platform as well as two additional adapted protocols that describe the detailed process of user-defined marker optimization for protein characterization of patient CTCs and a comparable protocol for CTC capture in very low volumes of blood, using standard CSS reagents, for studying in vivo preclinical mouse models of metastasis. In addition, differences in CTC quality between healthy donor blood spiked with cells from tissue culture versus patient blood samples are highlighted. Finally, several commonly discrepant items that can lead to CTC misclassification errors are outlined. Taken together, these protocols will provide a useful resource for users of this platform interested in preclinical and clinical research pertaining to metastasis and CTCs.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the most prominent cell type within the tumor stroma of many cancers, in particular breast carcinoma, and their prominent presence is often associated with poor prognosis1,2. CAFs are an activated subpopulation of stromal fibroblasts, many of which express the myofibroblast marker α-SMA3. CAFs originate from local tissue fibroblasts as well as from bone marrow-derived cells recruited into the developing tumor and adopt a CAF phenotype under the influence of the tumor microenvironment4. CAFs were shown to facilitate tumor initiation, growth and progression through signaling that promotes tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and invasion5-8. We demonstrated that CAFs enhance tumor growth by mediating tumor-promoting inflammation, starting at the earliest pre-neoplastic stages9. Despite increasing evidence of the key role CAFs play in facilitating tumor growth, studying CAFs has been an on-going challenge due to the lack of CAF-specific markers and the vast heterogeneity of these cells, with many subtypes co-existing in the tumor microenvironment10. Moreover, studying fibroblasts in vitro is hindered by the fact that their gene expression profile is often altered in tissue culture11,12 . To address this problem and to allow unbiased gene expression profiling of fibroblasts from fresh mouse and human tissues, we developed a method based on previous protocols for Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS)13,14. Our approach relies on utilizing PDGFRα as a surface marker to isolate fibroblasts from fresh mouse and human tissue. PDGFRα is abundantly expressed by both normal fibroblasts and CAFs9,15 . This method allows isolation of pure populations of normal fibroblasts and CAFs, including, but not restricted to α-SMA+ activated myofibroblasts. Isolated fibroblasts can then be used for characterization and comparison of the evolution of gene expression that occurs in CAFs during tumorigenesis. Indeed, we and others reported expression profiling of fibroblasts isolated by cell sorting16. This protocol was successfully performed to isolate and profile highly enriched populations of fibroblasts from skin, mammary, pancreas and lung tissues. Moreover, our method also allows culturing of sorted cells, in order to perform functional experiments and to avoid contamination by tumor cells, which is often a big obstacle when trying to culture CAFs.

Institutions: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

This manuscript illustrates a protocol for efficiently creating integration-free human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from peripheral blood using episomal plasmids and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. The advantages of this approach include: (1) the use of a minimal amount of peripheral blood as a source material; (2) nonintegrating reprogramming vectors; (3) a cost effective method for generating vector free iPSCs; (4) a single transfection; and (5) the use of small molecules to facilitate epigenetic reprogramming. Briefly, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are isolated from routine phlebotomy samples and then cultured in defined growth factors to yield a highly proliferative erythrocyte progenitor cell population that is remarkably amenable to reprogramming. Nonintegrating, nontransmissible episomal plasmids expressing OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, MYCL, LIN28A, and a p53 short hairpin (sh)RNA are introduced into the derived erythroblasts via a single nucleofection. Cotransfection of an episome that expresses enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) allows for easy identification of transfected cells. A separate replication-deficient plasmid expressing Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) is also added to the reaction mixture for increased expression of episomal proteins. Transfected cells are then plated onto a layer of irradiated mouse embryonic fibroblasts (iMEFs) for continued reprogramming. As soon as iPSC-like colonies appear at about twelve days after nucleofection, HDAC inhibitors are added to the medium to facilitate epigenetic remodeling. We have found that the inclusion of HDAC inhibitors routinely increases the generation of fully reprogrammed iPSC colonies by 2 fold. Once iPSC colonies exhibit typical human embryonic stem cell (hESC) morphology, they are gently transferred to individual iMEF-coated tissue culture plates for continued growth and expansion.

Precise control of the initiation and subsequent progression through the various phases of the cell cycle are of paramount importance in proliferating cells. Cell cycle division is an integral part of growth and reproduction and deregulation of key cell cycle components have been implicated in the precipitating events of carcinogenesis 1,2. Molecular agents in anti-cancer therapies frequently target biological pathways responsible for the regulation and coordination of cell cycle division 3. Although cell cycle kinetics tend to vary according to cell type, the distribution of cells amongst the four stages of the cell cycle is rather consistent within a particular cell line due to the consistent pattern of mitogen and growth factor expression. Genotoxic events and other cellular stressors can result in a temporary block of cell cycle progression, resulting in arrest or a temporary pause in a particular cell cycle phase to allow for instigation of the appropriate response mechanism.
The ability to experimentally observe the behavior of a cell population with reference to their cell cycle progression stage is an important advance in cell biology. Common procedures such as mitotic shake off, differential centrifugation or flow cytometry-based sorting are used to isolate cells at specific stages of the cell cycle 4-6. These fractionated, cell cycle phase-enriched populations are then subjected to experimental treatments. Yield, purity and viability of the separated fractions can often be compromised using these physical separation methods. As well, the time lapse between separation of the cell populations and the start of experimental treatment, whereby the fractionated cells can progress from the selected cell cycle stage, can pose significant challenges in the successful implementation and interpretation of these experiments.
Other approaches to study cell cycle stages include the use of chemicals to synchronize cells. Treatment of cells with chemical inhibitors of key metabolic processes for each cell cycle stage are useful in blocking the progression of the cell cycle to the next stage. For example, the ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor hydroxyurea halts cells at the G1/S juncture by limiting the supply of deoxynucleotides, the building blocks of DNA. Other notable chemicals include treatment with aphidicolin, a polymerase alpha inhibitor for G1 arrest, treatment with colchicine and nocodazole, both of which interfere with mitotic spindle formation to halt cells in M phase and finally, treatment with the DNA chain terminator 5-fluorodeoxyridine to initiate S phase arrest 7-9. Treatment with these chemicals is an effective means of synchronizing an entire population of cells at a particular phase. With removal of the chemical, cells rejoin the cell cycle in unison. Treatment of the test agent following release from the cell cycle blocking chemical ensures that the drug response elicited is from a uniform, cell cycle stage-specific population. However, since many of the chemical synchronizers are known genotoxic compounds, teasing apart the participation of various response pathways (to the synchronizers vs. the test agents) is challenging.
Here we describe a metabolic labeling method for following a subpopulation of actively cycling cells through their progression from the DNA replication phase, through to the division and separation of their daughter cells. Coupled with flow cytometry quantification, this protocol enables for measurement of kinetic progression of the cell cycle in the absence of either mechanically- or chemically- induced cellular stresses commonly associated with other cell cycle synchronization methodologies 10. In the following sections we will discuss the methodology, as well as some of its applications in biomedical research.

Optimization and Utilization of Agrobacterium-mediated Transient Protein Production in Nicotiana

Authors: Moneim Shamloul, Jason Trusa, Vadim Mett, Vidadi Yusibov.

Institutions: Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology.

Agrobacterium-mediated transient protein production in plants is a promising approach to produce vaccine antigens and therapeutic proteins within a short period of time. However, this technology is only just beginning to be applied to large-scale production as many technological obstacles to scale up are now being overcome. Here, we demonstrate a simple and reproducible method for industrial-scale transient protein production based on vacuum infiltration of Nicotiana plants with Agrobacteria carrying launch vectors. Optimization of Agrobacterium cultivation in AB medium allows direct dilution of the bacterial culture in Milli-Q water, simplifying the infiltration process. Among three tested species of Nicotiana, N. excelsiana (N. benthamiana × N. excelsior) was selected as the most promising host due to the ease of infiltration, high level of reporter protein production, and about two-fold higher biomass production under controlled environmental conditions. Induction of Agrobacterium harboring pBID4-GFP (Tobacco mosaic virus-based) using chemicals such as acetosyringone and monosaccharide had no effect on the protein production level. Infiltrating plant under 50 to 100 mbar for 30 or 60 sec resulted in about 95% infiltration of plant leaf tissues. Infiltration with Agrobacterium laboratory strain GV3101 showed the highest protein production compared to Agrobacteria laboratory strains LBA4404 and C58C1 and wild-type Agrobacteria strains at6, at10, at77 and A4. Co-expression of a viral RNA silencing suppressor, p23 or p19, in N. benthamiana resulted in earlier accumulation and increased production (15-25%) of target protein (influenza virus hemagglutinin).

The purpose of this report is to help develop an understanding of the effects caused by ion gradients across a biological membrane. Two aspects that influence a cell's membrane potential and which we address in these experiments are: (1) Ion concentration of K+ on the outside of the membrane, and (2) the permeability of the membrane to specific ions. The crayfish abdominal extensor muscles are in groupings with some being tonic (slow) and others phasic (fast) in their biochemical and physiological phenotypes, as well as in their structure; the motor neurons that innervate these muscles are correspondingly different in functional characteristics. We use these muscles as well as the superficial, tonic abdominal flexor muscle to demonstrate properties in synaptic transmission. In addition, we introduce a sensory-CNS-motor neuron-muscle circuit to demonstrate the effect of cuticular sensory stimulation as well as the influence of neuromodulators on certain aspects of the circuit. With the techniques obtained in this exercise, one can begin to answer many questions remaining in other experimental preparations as well as in physiological applications related to medicine and health. We have demonstrated the usefulness of model invertebrate preparations to address fundamental questions pertinent to all animals.

Breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), by definition, is proliferation of neoplastic epithelial cells within the confines of the breast duct, without breaching the collagenous basement membrane. While DCIS is a non-obligate precursor to invasive breast cancers, the molecular mechanisms and cell populations that permit progression to invasive cancer are not fully known. To determine if progenitor cells capable of invasion existed within the DCIS cell population, we developed a methodology for collecting and culturing sterile human breast tissue at the time of surgery, without enzymatic disruption of tissue.
Sterile breast tissue containing ductal segments is harvested from surgically excised breast tissue following routine pathological examination. Tissue containing DCIS is placed in nutrient rich, antibiotic-containing, serum free medium, and transported to the tissue culture laboratory. The breast tissue is further dissected to isolate the calcified areas. Multiple breast tissue pieces (organoids) are placed in a minimal volume of serum free medium in a flask with a removable lid and cultured in a humidified CO2 incubator. Epithelial and fibroblast cell populations emerge from the organoid after 10 - 14 days. Mammospheres spontaneously form on and around the epithelial cell monolayer. Specific cell populations can be harvested directly from the flask without disrupting neighboring cells. Our non-enzymatic tissue culture system reliably reveals cytogenetically abnormal, invasive progenitor cells from fresh human DCIS lesions.

Institutions: Medical College of Wisconsin, Stanford University School of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Hong Kong University, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin.

There is an urgent need to develop approaches for repairing the damaged heart, discovering new therapeutic drugs that do not have toxic effects on the heart, and improving strategies to accurately model heart disease. The potential of exploiting human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) technology to generate cardiac muscle “in a dish” for these applications continues to generate high enthusiasm. In recent years, the ability to efficiently generate cardiomyogenic cells from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) has greatly improved, offering us new opportunities to model very early stages of human cardiac development not otherwise accessible. In contrast to many previous methods, the cardiomyocyte differentiation protocol described here does not require cell aggregation or the addition of Activin A or BMP4 and robustly generates cultures of cells that are highly positive for cardiac troponin I and T (TNNI3, TNNT2), iroquois-class homeodomain protein IRX-4 (IRX4), myosin regulatory light chain 2, ventricular/cardiac muscle isoform (MLC2v) and myosin regulatory light chain 2, atrial isoform (MLC2a) by day 10 across all human embryonic stem cell (hESC) and hiPSC lines tested to date. Cells can be passaged and maintained for more than 90 days in culture. The strategy is technically simple to implement and cost-effective. Characterization of cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent cells often includes the analysis of reference markers, both at the mRNA and protein level. For protein analysis, flow cytometry is a powerful analytical tool for assessing quality of cells in culture and determining subpopulation homogeneity. However, technical variation in sample preparation can significantly affect quality of flow cytometry data. Thus, standardization of staining protocols should facilitate comparisons among various differentiation strategies. Accordingly, optimized staining protocols for the analysis of IRX4, MLC2v, MLC2a, TNNI3, and TNNT2 by flow cytometry are described.

Institutions: Baylor College of Medicine , Baylor College of Medicine , Baylor College of Medicine .

Type 1 diabetes is caused by T cell-mediated autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Until now insulin replacement is still the major therapy, because islet transplantation has been limited by donor availability and by the need for long-term immunosuppression. Induced islet neogenesis by gene transfer of Neuogenin3 (Ngn3), the islet lineage-defining specific transcription factor and Betacellulin (Btc), an islet growth factor has the potential to cure type 1 diabetes.
Adenoviral vectors (Ads) are highly efficient gene transfer vector; however, early generation Ads have several disadvantages for in vivo use. Helper-dependent Ads (HDAds) are the most advanced Ads that were developed to improve the safety profile of early generation of Ads and to prolong transgene expression1. They lack chronic toxicity because they lack viral coding sequences2-5 and retain only Ad cis elements necessary for vector replication and packaging. This allows cloning of up to 36 kb genes.
In this protocol, we describe the method to generate HDAd-Ngn3 and HDAd-Btc and to deliver these vectors into STZ-induced diabetic mice. Our results show that co-injection of HDAd-Ngn3 and HDAd-Btc induces 'neo islets' in the liver and reverses hyperglycemia in diabetic mice.

The vascular endothelium is a monolayer of cells that cover the interior of blood vessels and provide both structural and functional roles. The endothelium acts as a barrier, preventing leukocyte adhesion and aggregation, as well as controlling permeability to plasma components. Functionally, the endothelium affects vessel tone.
Endothelial dysfunction is an imbalance between the chemical species which regulate vessel tone, thombroresistance, cellular proliferation and mitosis. It is the first step in atherosclerosis and is associated with coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, heart failure, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia.
The first demonstration of endothelial dysfunction involved direct infusion of acetylcholine and quantitative coronary angiography. Acetylcholine binds to muscarinic receptors on the endothelial cell surface, leading to an increase of intracellular calcium and increased nitric oxide (NO) production. In subjects with an intact endothelium, vasodilation was observed while subjects with endothelial damage experienced paradoxical vasoconstriction.
There exists a non-invasive, in vivo method for measuring endothelial function in peripheral arteries using high-resolution B-mode ultrasound. The endothelial function of peripheral arteries is closely related to coronary artery function. This technique measures the percent diameter change in the brachial artery during a period of reactive hyperemia following limb ischemia.
This technique, known as endothelium-dependent, flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) has value in clinical research settings. However, a number of physiological and technical issues can affect the accuracy of the results and appropriate guidelines for the technique have been published. Despite the guidelines, FMD remains heavily operator dependent and presents a steep learning curve. This article presents a standardized method for measuring FMD in the brachial artery on the upper arm and offers suggestions to reduce intra-operator variability.

The aim of de novo protein design is to find the amino acid sequences that will fold into a desired 3-dimensional structure with improvements in specific properties, such as binding affinity, agonist or antagonist behavior, or stability, relative to the native sequence. Protein design lies at the center of current advances drug design and discovery. Not only does protein design provide predictions for potentially useful drug targets, but it also enhances our understanding of the protein folding process and protein-protein interactions. Experimental methods such as directed evolution have shown success in protein design. However, such methods are restricted by the limited sequence space that can be searched tractably. In contrast, computational design strategies allow for the screening of a much larger set of sequences covering a wide variety of properties and functionality. We have developed a range of computational de novo protein design methods capable of tackling several important areas of protein design. These include the design of monomeric proteins for increased stability and complexes for increased binding affinity.
To disseminate these methods for broader use we present Protein WISDOM (http://www.proteinwisdom.org), a tool that provides automated methods for a variety of protein design problems. Structural templates are submitted to initialize the design process. The first stage of design is an optimization sequence selection stage that aims at improving stability through minimization of potential energy in the sequence space. Selected sequences are then run through a fold specificity stage and a binding affinity stage. A rank-ordered list of the sequences for each step of the process, along with relevant designed structures, provides the user with a comprehensive quantitative assessment of the design. Here we provide the details of each design method, as well as several notable experimental successes attained through the use of the methods.

DTI is a technique that identifies white matter tracts (WMT) non-invasively in healthy and non-healthy patients using diffusion measurements. Similar to visual pathways (VP), WMT are not visible with classical MRI or intra-operatively with microscope. DTI will help neurosurgeons to prevent destruction of the VP while removing lesions adjacent to this WMT. We have performed DTI on fifty patients before and after surgery between March 2012 to January 2014. To navigate we used a 3DT1-weighted sequence. Additionally, we performed a T2-weighted and DTI-sequences. The parameters used were, FOV: 200 x 200 mm, slice thickness: 2 mm, and acquisition matrix: 96 x 96 yielding nearly isotropic voxels of 2 x 2 x 2 mm. Axial MRI was carried out using a 32 gradient direction and one b0-image. We used Echo-Planar-Imaging (EPI) and ASSET parallel imaging with an acceleration factor of 2 and b-value of 800 s/mm². The scanning time was less than 9 min.
The DTI-data obtained were processed using a FDA approved surgical navigation system program which uses a straightforward fiber-tracking approach known as fiber assignment by continuous tracking (FACT). This is based on the propagation of lines between regions of interest (ROI) which is defined by a physician. A maximum angle of 50, FA start value of 0.10 and ADC stop value of 0.20 mm²/s were the parameters used for tractography.
There are some limitations to this technique. The limited acquisition time frame enforces trade-offs in the image quality. Another important point not to be neglected is the brain shift during surgery. As for the latter intra-operative MRI might be helpful. Furthermore the risk of false positive or false negative tracts needs to be taken into account which might compromise the final results.

Many efforts have been devoted to establish in vitro cell culture systems. These systems are designed to model a vast number of in vivo processes. Cell culture systems arising from human endometrial samples are no exception. Applications range from normal cyclic physiological processes to endometrial pathologies such as gynecological cancers, infectious diseases, and reproductive deficiencies. Here, we provide two methods for establishing primary endometrial stromal cells from surgically resected endometrial hysterectomy specimens. The first method is referred to as “the scraping method” and incorporates mechanical scraping using surgical or razor blades whereas the second method is termed “the trypsin method.” This latter method uses the enzymatic activity of trypsin to promote the separation of cells and primary cell outgrowth. We illustrate step-by-step methodology through digital images and microscopy. We also provide examples for validating endometrial stromal cell lines via quantitative real time polymerase chain reactions (qPCR) and immunofluorescence (IF).

Tumor Treating Field Therapy in Combination with Bevacizumab for the Treatment of Recurrent Glioblastoma

Authors: Ayman I. Omar.

Institutions: Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

A novel device that employs TTF therapy has recently been developed and is currently in use for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM). It was FDA approved in April 2011 for the treatment of patients 22 years or older with rGBM. The device delivers alternating electric fields and is programmed to ensure maximal tumor cell kill1.
Glioblastoma is the most common type of glioma and has an estimated incidence of approximately 10,000 new cases per year in the United States alone2. This tumor is particularly resistant to treatment and is uniformly fatal especially in the recurrent setting3-5. Prior to the approval of the TTF System, the only FDA approved treatment for rGBM was bevacizumab6. Bevacizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeted against the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein that drives tumor angiogenesis7. By blocking the VEGF pathway, bevacizumab can result in a significant radiographic response (pseudoresponse), improve progression free survival and reduce corticosteroid requirements in rGBM patients8,9. Bevacizumab however failed to prolong overall survival in a recent phase III trial26. A pivotal phase III trial (EF-11) demonstrated comparable overall survival between physicians’ choice chemotherapy and TTF Therapy but better quality of life were observed in the TTF arm10.
There is currently an unmet need to develop novel approaches designed to prolong overall survival and/or improve quality of life in this unfortunate patient population. One appealing approach would be to combine the two currently approved treatment modalities namely bevacizumab and TTF Therapy. These two treatments are currently approved as monotherapy11,12, but their combination has never been evaluated in a clinical trial. We have developed an approach for combining those two treatment modalities and treated 2 rGBM patients. Here we describe a detailed methodology outlining this novel treatment protocol and present representative data from one of the treated patients.

The blood brain barrier (BBB) specifically regulates molecular and cellular flux between the blood and the nervous tissue. Our aim was to develop and characterize a highly reproducible rat syngeneic in vitro model of the BBB using co-cultures of primary rat brain endothelial cells (RBEC) and astrocytes to study receptors involved in transcytosis across the endothelial cell monolayer. Astrocytes were isolated by mechanical dissection following trypsin digestion and were frozen for later co-culture. RBEC were isolated from 5-week-old rat cortices. The brains were cleaned of meninges and white matter, and mechanically dissociated following enzymatic digestion. Thereafter, the tissue homogenate was centrifuged in bovine serum albumin to separate vessel fragments from nervous tissue. The vessel fragments underwent a second enzymatic digestion to free endothelial cells from their extracellular matrix. The remaining contaminating cells such as pericytes were further eliminated by plating the microvessel fragments in puromycin-containing medium. They were then passaged onto filters for co-culture with astrocytes grown on the bottom of the wells. RBEC expressed high levels of tight junction (TJ) proteins such as occludin, claudin-5 and ZO-1 with a typical localization at the cell borders. The transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) of brain endothelial monolayers, indicating the tightness of TJs reached 300 ohm·cm2 on average. The endothelial permeability coefficients (Pe) for lucifer yellow (LY) was highly reproducible with an average of 0.26 ± 0.11 x 10-3 cm/min. Brain endothelial cells organized in monolayers expressed the efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp), showed a polarized transport of rhodamine 123, a ligand for P-gp, and showed specific transport of transferrin-Cy3 and DiILDL across the endothelial cell monolayer. In conclusion, we provide a protocol for setting up an in vitro BBB model that is highly reproducible due to the quality assurance methods, and that is suitable for research on BBB transporters and receptors.

In Vitro Reconstitution of Light-harvesting Complexes of Plants and Green Algae

Authors: Alberto Natali, Laura M. Roy, Roberta Croce.

Institutions: VU University Amsterdam.

In plants and green algae, light is captured by the light-harvesting complexes (LHCs), a family of integral membrane proteins that coordinate chlorophylls and carotenoids. In vivo, these proteins are folded with pigments to form complexes which are inserted in the thylakoid membrane of the chloroplast. The high similarity in the chemical and physical properties of the members of the family, together with the fact that they can easily lose pigments during isolation, makes their purification in a native state challenging. An alternative approach to obtain homogeneous preparations of LHCs was developed by Plumley and Schmidt in 19871, who showed that it was possible to reconstitute these complexes in vitro starting from purified pigments and unfolded apoproteins, resulting in complexes with properties very similar to that of native complexes. This opened the way to the use of bacterial expressed recombinant proteins for in vitro reconstitution. The reconstitution method is powerful for various reasons: (1) pure preparations of individual complexes can be obtained, (2) pigment composition can be controlled to assess their contribution to structure and function, (3) recombinant proteins can be mutated to study the functional role of the individual residues (e.g., pigment binding sites) or protein domain (e.g., protein-protein interaction, folding). This method has been optimized in several laboratories and applied to most of the light-harvesting complexes. The protocol described here details the method of reconstituting light-harvesting complexes in vitro currently used in our laboratory,and examples describing applications of the method are provided.

Institutions: University of Alabama at Birmingham, INRA UR1067, INRA UR1037.

Due to the inherent difficulty and time involved with studying the myogenic program in vivo, primary culture systems derived from the resident adult stem cells of skeletal muscle, the myogenic precursor cells (MPCs), have proven indispensible to our understanding of mammalian skeletal muscle development and growth. Particularly among the basal taxa of Vertebrata, however, data are limited describing the molecular mechanisms controlling the self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation of MPCs. Of particular interest are potential mechanisms that underlie the ability of basal vertebrates to undergo considerable postlarval skeletal myofiber hyperplasia (i.e. teleost fish) and full regeneration following appendage loss (i.e. urodele amphibians). Additionally, the use of cultured myoblasts could aid in the understanding of regeneration and the recapitulation of the myogenic program and the differences between them. To this end, we describe in detail a robust and efficient protocol (and variations therein) for isolating and maintaining MPCs and their progeny, myoblasts and immature myotubes, in cell culture as a platform for understanding the evolution of the myogenic program, beginning with the more basal vertebrates. Capitalizing on the model organism status of the zebrafish (Danio rerio), we report on the application of this protocol to small fishes of the cyprinid clade Danioninae. In tandem, this protocol can be utilized to realize a broader comparative approach by isolating MPCs from the Mexican axolotl (Ambystomamexicanum) and even laboratory rodents. This protocol is now widely used in studying myogenesis in several fish species, including rainbow trout, salmon, and sea bream1-4.

Cultured embryonic and adult skeletal muscle cells have a number of different uses. The micro-dissected explants technique described in this chapter is a robust and reliable method for isolating relatively large numbers of proliferative skeletal muscle cells from juvenile, adult or embryonic muscles as a source of skeletal muscle stem cells. The authors have used micro-dissected explant cultures to analyse the growth characteristics of skeletal muscle cells in wild-type and dystrophic muscles. Each of the components of tissue growth, namely cell survival, proliferation, senescence and differentiation can be analysed separately using the methods described here. The net effect of all components of growth can be established by means of measuring explant outgrowth rates. The micro-explant method can be used to establish primary cultures from a wide range of different muscle types and ages and, as described here, has been adapted by the authors to enable the isolation of embryonic skeletal muscle precursors.
Uniquely, micro-explant cultures have been used to derive clonal (single cell origin) skeletal muscle stem cell (SMSc) lines which can be expanded and used for in vivo transplantation. In vivo transplanted SMSc behave as functional, tissue-specific, satellite cells which contribute to skeletal muscle fibre regeneration but which are also retained (in the satellite cell niche) as a small pool of undifferentiated stem cells which can be re-isolated into culture using the micro-explant method.

Institutions: University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, University Hospital of Essen.

Receptor tyrosine kinases have been implicated in the development and progression of many cancers, including both leukemia and solid tumors, and are attractive druggable therapeutic targets. Here we describe an efficient four-step strategy for pre-clinical evaluation of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in the treatment of acute leukemia. Initially, western blot analysis is used to confirm target inhibition in cultured leukemia cells. Functional activity is then evaluated using clonogenic assays in methylcellulose or soft agar cultures. Experimental compounds that demonstrate activity in cell culture assays are evaluated in vivo using NOD-SCID-gamma (NSG) mice transplanted orthotopically with human leukemia cell lines. Initial in vivo pharmacodynamic studies evaluate target inhibition in leukemic blasts isolated from the bone marrow. This approach is used to determine the dose and schedule of administration required for effective target inhibition. Subsequent studies evaluate the efficacy of the TKIs in vivo using luciferase expressing leukemia cells, thereby allowing for non-invasive bioluminescent monitoring of leukemia burden and assessment of therapeutic response using an in vivo bioluminescence imaging system. This strategy has been effective for evaluation of TKIs in vitro and in vivo and can be applied for identification of molecularly-targeted agents with therapeutic potential or for direct comparison and prioritization of multiple compounds.

Dopaminergic neurons represent less than 1% of the total number of neurons in the brain. This low amount of neurons regulates important brain functions such as motor control, motivation, and working memory. Nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons selectively degenerate in Parkinson's disease (PD). This progressive neuronal loss is unequivocally associated with the motors symptoms of the pathology (bradykinesia, resting tremor, and muscular rigidity). The main agent responsible of dopaminergic neuron degeneration is still unknown. However, these neurons appear to be extremely vulnerable in diverse conditions. Primary cultures constitute one of the most relevant models to investigate properties and characteristics of dopaminergic neurons. These cultures can be submitted to various stress agents that mimic PD pathology and to neuroprotective compounds in order to stop or slow down neuronal degeneration. The numerous transgenic mouse models of PD that have been generated during the last decade further increased the interest of researchers for dopaminergic neuron cultures. Here, the video protocol focuses on the delicate dissection of embryonic mouse brains. Precise excision of ventral mesencephalon is crucial to obtain neuronal cultures sufficiently rich in dopaminergic cells to allow subsequent studies. This protocol can be realized with embryonic transgenic mice and is suitable for immunofluorescence staining, quantitative PCR, second messenger quantification, or neuronal death/survival assessment.

Institutions: University of North Carolina School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

Current astrocytoma models are limited in their ability to define the roles of oncogenic mutations in specific brain cell types during disease pathogenesis and their utility for preclinical drug development. In order to design a better model system for these applications, phenotypically wild-type cortical astrocytes and neural stem cells (NSC) from conditional, genetically engineered mice (GEM) that harbor various combinations of floxed oncogenic alleles were harvested and grown in culture. Genetic recombination was induced in vitro using adenoviral Cre-mediated recombination, resulting in expression of mutated oncogenes and deletion of tumor suppressor genes. The phenotypic consequences of these mutations were defined by measuring proliferation, transformation, and drug response in vitro. Orthotopic allograft models, whereby transformed cells are stereotactically injected into the brains of immune-competent, syngeneic littermates, were developed to define the role of oncogenic mutations and cell type on tumorigenesis in vivo. Unlike most established human glioblastoma cell line xenografts, injection of transformed GEM-derived cortical astrocytes into the brains of immune-competent littermates produced astrocytomas, including the most aggressive subtype, glioblastoma, that recapitulated the histopathological hallmarks of human astrocytomas, including diffuse invasion of normal brain parenchyma. Bioluminescence imaging of orthotopic allografts from transformed astrocytes engineered to express luciferase was utilized to monitor in vivo tumor growth over time. Thus, astrocytoma models using astrocytes and NSC harvested from GEM with conditional oncogenic alleles provide an integrated system to study the genetics and cell biology of astrocytoma pathogenesis in vitro and in vivo and may be useful in preclinical drug development for these devastating diseases.

Institutions: University of Warwick, Norwich Research Park, The Australian National University.

Plants adapt quickly to changing environments due to elaborate perception and signaling systems. During pathogen attack, plants rapidly respond to infection via the recruitment and activation of immune complexes. Activation of immune complexes is associated with post-translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins, such as phosphorylation, glycosylation, or ubiquitination. Understanding how these PTMs are choreographed will lead to a better understanding of how resistance is achieved.
Here we describe a protein purification method for nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR)-interacting proteins and the subsequent identification of their post-translational modifications (PTMs). With small modifications, the protocol can be applied for the purification of other plant protein complexes. The method is based on the expression of an epitope-tagged version of the protein of interest, which is subsequently partially purified by immunoprecipitation and subjected to mass spectrometry for identification of interacting proteins and PTMs.
This protocol demonstrates that: i). Dynamic changes in PTMs such as phosphorylation can be detected by mass spectrometry; ii). It is important to have sufficient quantities of the protein of interest, and this can compensate for the lack of purity of the immunoprecipitate; iii). In order to detect PTMs of a protein of interest, this protein has to be immunoprecipitated to get a sufficient quantity of protein.

Institutions: Boston University School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Through the ectopic expression of four transcription factors, Oct4, Klf4, Sox2 and cMyc, human somatic cells can be converted to a pluripotent state, generating so-called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)1-4. Patient-specific iPSCs lack the ethical concerns that surround embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and would bypass possible immune rejection. Thus, iPSCs have attracted considerable attention for disease modeling studies, the screening of pharmacological compounds, and regenerative therapies5.
We have shown the generation of transgene-free human iPSCs from patients with different lung diseases using a single excisable polycistronic lentiviral Stem Cell Cassette (STEMCCA) encoding the Yamanaka factors6. These iPSC lines were generated from skin fibroblasts, the most common cell type used for reprogramming. Normally, obtaining fibroblasts requires a skin punch biopsy followed by expansion of the cells in culture for a few passages. Importantly, a number of groups have reported the reprogramming of human peripheral blood cells into iPSCs7-9. In one study, a Tet inducible version of the STEMCCA vector was employed9, which required the blood cells to be simultaneously infected with a constitutively active lentivirus encoding the reverse tetracycline transactivator. In contrast to fibroblasts, peripheral blood cells can be collected via minimally invasive procedures, greatly reducing the discomfort and distress of the patient. A simple and effective protocol for reprogramming blood cells using a constitutive single excisable vector may accelerate the application of iPSC technology by making it accessible to a broader research community. Furthermore, reprogramming of peripheral blood cells allows for the generation of iPSCs from individuals in which skin biopsies should be avoided (i.e. aberrant scarring) or due to pre-existing disease conditions preventing access to punch biopsies.
Here we demonstrate a protocol for the generation of human iPSCs from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using a single floxed-excisable lentiviral vector constitutively expressing the 4 factors. Freshly collected or thawed PBMCs are expanded for 9 days as described10,11 in medium containing ascorbic acid, SCF, IGF-1, IL-3 and EPO before being transduced with the STEMCCA lentivirus. Cells are then plated onto MEFs and ESC-like colonies can be visualized two weeks after infection. Finally, selected clones are expanded and tested for the expression of the pluripotency markers SSEA-4, Tra-1-60 and Tra-1-81. This protocol is simple, robust and highly consistent, providing a reliable methodology for the generation of human iPSCs from readily accessible 4 ml of blood.

Hair follicles undergo lifelong growth and hair cycle is a well-controlled process involving stem cell proliferation and quiescence. Hair bulge is a well-characterized niche for adult stem cells1. This segment of the outer root sheath contains a number of different types of stem cells, including epithelial stem cells2, melanocyte stem cells3 and neural crest like stem cells4-7. Hair follicles represent an accessible and rich source for different types of human stem cells. We and others have isolated neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) from human fetal and adult hair follicles4,5. These human stem cells are label-retaining cells and are capable of self-renewal through asymmetric cell division in vitro. They express immature neural crest cell markers but not differentiation markers. Our expression profiling study showed that they share a similar gene expression pattern with murine skin immature neural crest cells. They exhibit clonal multipotency that can give rise to myogenic, melanocytic, and neuronal cell lineages after in vitro clonal single cell culture. Differentiated cells not only acquire lineage-specific markers but also demonstrate appropriate functions in ex vivo conditions. In addition, these NCSCs show differentiation potential toward mesenchymal lineages. Differentiated neuronal cells can persist in mouse brain and retain neuronal differentiation markers. It has been shown that hair follicle derived NCSCs can help nerve regrowth, and they improve motor function in mice transplanted with these stem cells following transecting spinal cord injury8. Furthermore, peripheral nerves have been repaired with stem cell grafts9, and implantation of skin-derived precursor cells adjacent to crushed sciatic nerves has resulted in remyelination10. Therefore, the hair follicle/skin derived NCSCs have already shown promising results for regenerative therapy in preclinical models.
Somatic cell reprogramming to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells has shown enormous potential for regenerative medicine. However, there are still many issues with iPS cells, particularly the long term effect of oncogene/virus integration and potential tumorigenicity of pluripotent stem cells have not been adequately addressed. There are still many hurdles to be overcome before iPS cells can be used for regenerative medicine. Whereas the adult stem cells are known to be safe and they have been used clinically for many years, such as bone marrow transplant. Many patients have already benefited from the treatment. Autologous adult stem cells are still preferred cells for transplantation. Therefore, the readily accessible and expandable adult stem cells in human skin/hair follicles are a valuable source for regenerative medicine.

Institutions: Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute at Lake Nona, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine.

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by a defect in insulin action. The hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp, or insulin clamp, is widely considered the "gold standard" method for assessing insulin action in vivo. During an insulin clamp, hyperinsulinemia is achieved by a constant insulin infusion. Euglycemia is maintained via a concomitant glucose infusion at a variable rate. This variable glucose infusion rate (GIR) is determined by measuring blood glucose at brief intervals throughout the experiment and adjusting the GIR accordingly. The GIR is indicative of whole-body insulin action, as mice with enhanced insulin action require a greater GIR. The insulin clamp can incorporate administration of isotopic 2[14C]deoxyglucose to assess tissue-specific glucose uptake and [3-3H]glucose to assess the ability of insulin to suppress the rate of endogenous glucose appearance (endoRa), a marker of hepatic glucose production, and to stimulate the rate of whole-body glucose disappearance (Rd).
The miniaturization of the insulin clamp for use in genetic mouse models of metabolic disease has led to significant advances in diabetes research. Methods for performing insulin clamps vary between laboratories. It is important to note that the manner in which an insulin clamp is performed can significantly affect the results obtained. We have published a comprehensive assessment of different approaches to performing insulin clamps in conscious mice1 as well as an evaluation of the metabolic response of four commonly used inbred mouse strains using various clamp techniques2. Here we present a protocol for performing insulin clamps on conscious, unrestrained mice developed by the Vanderbilt Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center (MMPC; URL: www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/mmpc). This includes a description of the method for implanting catheters used during the insulin clamp. The protocol employed by the Vanderbilt MMPC utilizes a unique two-catheter system3. One catheter is inserted into the jugular vein for infusions. A second catheter is inserted into the carotid artery, which allows for blood sampling without the need to restrain or handle the mouse. This technique provides a significant advantage to the most common method for obtaining blood samples during insulin clamps which is to sample from the severed tip of the tail. Unlike this latter method, sampling from an arterial catheter is not stressful to the mouse1. We also describe methods for using isotopic tracer infusions to assess tissue-specific insulin action. We also provide guidelines for the appropriate presentation of results obtained from insulin clamps.

This paper introduces a novel recovery strategy for endothelial colony forming progenitor cells (ECFCs) from heparinized but otherwise unmanipulated adult human peripheral blood within a mean of 12 days. After large scale expansion >1x108 ECFCs can be obtained for further tests. Advantageously by using pHPL the contact of human cells with bovine serum antigens can be excluded. By flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry the isolated cells can be characterized as ECFC and their in vitro functionality to form vascular like structures can be tested in a matrigel assay. Further these cells can be subcutaneously injected in a mouse model to form functional, perfused vessels in vivo. After long term expansion and cryopreservation proliferation, function and genomic stability appear to be preserved. 3,4
This animal-protein free isolation and expansion method is easily applicable to generate a large quantity of ECFCs.

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